#INTERNSAID I

Throughout my career as a creative, conversations with interns have always been quite entertaining and enlightening.
Their confidence, and ability to decipher what works for them and what doesn’t is quite interesting.
I often look forward to these conversations. So, I will be sharing a few from time to time #InternSaid

We had just gotten back from an intense meeting with a client, and the following conversation ensued.

Intern (looking at me quizzically): Why do you do this job?

Blinking myself into the moment, trying to understand where she might be going with this.

Intern: Do you get paid a lot of money?

Me: Nope!

Intern: Then why do you do it? It’s too painful.

Me (sighs): Well….

Intern: Our presentation had everything they asked for, and they still said NO to all the ideas. They practically changed the brief.

Me: ermmmm….you see (she cuts in)

Intern: I am not cut out for this…not sure I want to be creative anymore.

I immediately launched into a passionate and ideological spin on how creativity is often subjective and how all the rejections help one become extraordinary at anticipating client(s) and concepting at a much skilled level.

She listened carefully, gave me a look, smiled and packed up to go home.

Truth is, she never returned to the creative department after that experience. She moved to the Account Management team, and always shot me an evil grin whenever we saw each other in the agency.

What would you have done?

Holding back the Lion of St. Mark

It’s that time of the year again when creatives across the world go crazy and giddy in anticipation of the winning works from the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Trying to see if their creative appetite still predicts the winning works and remind themselves that jealousy is a great emotion.

(Un)fortunately, I am one of those creatives, but to be sincere, every time the award comes around, I am only reminded of an encounter that continues to shape my approach to people, creativity and life in general.

My Creative partner in crime Ayo Ishola and I were at Cannes Lions the year the legendary Marcello Serpa was being awarded the Lion of St. Mark- Arguably the highest honour of the creative industry.

While outside the Palais on the night of his presentation, we noticed an abomination of a scene- Marcello Serpa was being stopped by security that he couldn’t go into the venue because he wasn’t wearing a particular Festival Tag.

The interesting thing was how calm, graceful, charming and humble he was in the moment. He tried convincing the security personnel that he does have the Festival Tags, but it’s just not on his person at that particular time and he needed to be inside the venue for the ceremony. The security operative was not budging.

My creative partner and I boiled as we watched what was transpiring. Marcello-Freaking-Serpa, being gated? “What an insult to the gods of creativity” 🙂. We didn’t know when we sprung into action, yelling down the poor security personnel doing his job; “Do you know who this is?”, “You can’t be serious”, “ We are here because of him”.

Marcello was definitely surprised at our enthusiasm. He actually looked a little embarrassed by our overt way of handling the situation. 🤦🏾‍♂️

Seeing how we went on and on passionately, the security stepped aside for Marcello to make his way through, as he watched in a bit of fear and confusion as we sounded off. (Marcello quietly thanked him)

We then proceeded to FanBoy Marcello and got a few pictures with him.

A picture with the legendary Marcello Serpa

His humility and gracefulness is my ultimate lesson from the Cannes Lions Festival and I believe many more creatives really need to find humility. Given that, there are instances when we need to be the opposite of humble, but let’s never let it cloud our judgement and humanity.

The creative industry already has too many individuals with inflated egos, and zero empathy, affecting the future of the industry and the willingness to learn.

The negativity many creatives continue to exude in moments when they are absolutely unneeded is one of the many reasons why loads of young talents exit the industry.

So, to anyone that has made it this far in this little rambling down memory lane; “Be more a Marcello” 🙂

These were Marcello’s words when he got on stage to receive his award that night; “My life and career would be completely different, and probably a bit boring if Cannes Lions did not exist. Those small stairs to the stage are connected to me and I have always watched with envy and admiration as some creative legends stand at the top of them. I feel honoured, dizzy and extremely happy to be recognised as a stand-out within the industry. This award is like giving a shot of adrenaline directly into the ego of anyone in the business.”

P.S: if you don’t know who Marcello Serpa is, you are surely in for a treat. Google has all the amazing answers.

And Congratulations to the 2022 recipient of the Lion of St. Mark Colleen DeCourcy

International Women's Day 2021

For International Women’s Day, these words by Gandalf from The HOBBIT ring truer than ever;

"Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love." 

Let’s face it, every little ordinary act of any and everyone of us, can stir the ripple of change; suppressing the insensitive and tyrannical amongst us all. Be ordinary, but deliberate for what makes a world of difference.

Special thanks to the incredibly gifted talents @ordinaryfolkco for making this audio available in their playbox. I just couldn’t ignore how powerful it was and still is, so had to re-interpret it visually for a day as symbolic as today.

Grand Juror New York Festival of Advertising

It turns out that I have the rare and distinct privilege to be appointed a Grand juror by Newyorkfestival; this means I will be judging entries into the 2021 New York Festival of Advertising. Making selections alongside global creative leads on works that truly moved the needle with craft, originality and creativity.

I am expecting to be jealous when I see the unique thinking some of the entries bring, and be suitably mystified when some others pop-up. The learnings would be quite enriching for the soul.

Commarts 2021 Illustration Competition

With entries from over 4,000 gifted illustrators and animators across the globe. It is indeed a rare privilege and honor to make the shortlist. 

Communication Arts is the largest international creative journal of visual communication in the world; truly a prestigious selection of the rarest of minds and talents. I have admired its featured collection of works for years and finally getting a nod is quite mind-numbing and beautiful. 

Truth is, I am just a noob with a thirst for failing at something new🙂

All thanks are due to the crazy traffic in Lagos which gave me the inspiration and motivation to start learning how to illustrate and animate while stuck in place.

2020 in Doodles

As an amateur illustrator/animator who took Lagos traffic as the classroom to teach himself how to create illustrations and animations, I am often astonished at the end of each year to see how much has been done.

2020 was indeed a very different year for this side-passion (@trafficdoodles) of mine; I didn’t have the luxury of being stuck on the roads for constant inspiration, and the world as we all knew it seemed to be spinning off its axis.        

Oh well! what can I say; it’s been one hell of an eventful year, but the upside for me was promising to Stay Curious through it, which helped me evolve the illustrations/animations from only the Assembly App to Procreate and even Looom. 

Do look through the compilation of work done this year and see if you can spot a number of events that have shaped the narrative of our existence forever.

Lucky fingers crossed 🤞🏾 as we go into 2021.

🎶: Billie Eilish: No Time to Die

Pixiteapps features Trafficdoodles

When I started Trafficdoodles as a project, I was just repurposing my hours of being held up in Lagos Traffic to experiment. I ended up learning to illustrate and animate to a reasonable extent (from total newbie level).

So it was a surprise when I got contacted by Pixiteapps, the developers of Assembly; the app I use for my daily illustrations, and they said I was selected to feature amongst 10 Creatives across the globe creating content with their mobile app. They wanted to introduce me to the larger group across the Creative community and even let my story inspire a number of people( can you imagine, tiny little me).

I actually did this interview/feature last year while commuting to work and seeking inspiration (All thanks to the awesome team at FlowTown Films, Thanks MoDMaN). Do see my video feature below and also check out the other brilliant people across the world expressing their creativity in beautiful ways.

Also check out and follow @Trafficdoodles on Instagram to see how much I have improved over time and give yourself a daily dose of Lagos Traffic inspiration. Although, you might not see daily content at the moment, since the world in on lockdown and I haven’t had the luxury of being stuck in Traffic.

Do StaySafe, StayHome & StayCreative.

Seyi aka Traffic Doodles from MoDMaN on Vimeo.

Data in the time of Corona

In this interesting yet dark times we live in, I have found myself constantly rummaging the web for the latest statistics on how deadly the Corona Virus is; just to remind me and anyone around how truly deadly it is.

There are lot’s of data sources out there, but one that I have found to be very detailed and reliable as a reference point has been from John Hopkins University and I think it’s a great tool to share.

Do refer to it for loads of verified updates across the globe available in Real-Time. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu

Stay Home…Stay Safe!

Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

2019 in Doodles

Spent a lot of hours on the roads in 2019 and I sure as hell couldn’t let all that time stuck in Uber and on Lagos roads go to waste. So here’s a compilation of what I made of the sights and sounds of the roads of Lagos, in 2019. Going into 2020 with even more insane level of curiosity.

NewscentralTv Interview

Impact: Africa

Spent an early morning discussing the African story as it relates to Advertising with the folks at NewscentralTV. It was an engaging session filled with lots of learnings..

2018 in Doodles

Spent a lot of time being stuck in Lagos Traffic this year, so instead of being angry for no sensible reason, I picked up a new habit out of boredom. I used the time to teach myself how to create minimal illustrations and animations using my mobile phone. My newfound obsession was called TRAFFICDOODLES(😃@trafficdoodles on IG); so everyday based on my road experiences, new illustrations/animations were born. I totally credit boredom for this, and it's a total change of perspective on what it means to be stuck and bored. I didn't care if my lines or motions were perfect nor did I overly criticize my creations, I just chose to continuously make my mistakes and share them regardless of judgements. So back to the cliché; BE FEARLESS, IT WORKS and FIND YOUR BOREDOM in the coming year.

Traffic Doodles

On a daily basis, I spend about 4 hours cumulatively commuting to and from work. Since I am stuck in Lagos traffic everyday, I'm constantly in search of new creative ways  to spend my time.  A large number of passengers are always glued to the screen of mobile phones, as I usually am, so I started using my travel time to sort of draw, based on everything experienced on Lagos Roads. Using the arrangement of basic shapes I tell the story of what I read,saw or heard while on my way, and I call them TRAFFIC DOODLES. I share them via twitter, and instagram daily.I have also compiled a number of them here for your viewing pleasure.  You can follow @trafficdoodles on Instagram to stay updated.

The Great Dictator

Why we live in a time of so much lethargy eludes me, most of us all have lost what makes us humans; truly we are now shadows of what we were created to be, a distant semblance of what beings that have such amazing intellect should be capable of. I basically hate the world every time I lift my gaze and open my ears in curiosity. At this point all I do every passing second is echo the words from Charlie Chaplin’s character in The Great Dictator; and to a great extent, I believe sacrificing a few minutes of yours to listening to these words might stir something in you. So please, hit the play button.

Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/TheChaplinFilms * Get it on iTunes: http://bit.ly/iTunesGreatDictatorSpeech * "We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost..." The Great Dictator © Roy Export S.A.S.

Kiss From a Rose

Anyone who really really knows me can say one thing about me; I am obsessed with the Game: Plant Vs Zombies, why I relish the sight of brains being consumed by Zombies and play it a million and one times a day is beyond even me.  The bloody game is even now part of my  bed-time ritual, before I tune -into Radio slumber, I gotta just have my fix of Plant Vs. Zombies. This video below just perfectly captures my Zombie fascination, all thanks to @thesmilinghat. All I did was share a story with him and he brought it to life the craziest way possible. Collaboration is everything!

Hustle

The beauty of riding in a Lagos yellow bus can sometimes be breathtaking: from the excessive lapping that happens, to the charitable passengers offering to pay your transport fare ( that's a scare and a tale for another day).

The experience just never seizes to amaze me-the headroom some of these buses offer cannot even be rivaled by some Boeing flight birds. The wary look of hustle plastered on all the faces within the bus is always quite a delight. The clash of colognes and sweat might want to choke you, but if you prepared yourself for it all,All you will do is smile.

Smile at all the dreams housed within the moving death-trap. The driver will stop so many times trying to correct the sparks flying from his battery terminal. The conductor will suffer partial hearing loss when you ask him about your change( balance) and then the bus tyre  will go FLAT,confirming your much dreaded thought. You get delayed for eternity in the middle of the road, while he attempts to fix a spare tyre. The spare tyre finally gets fixed at which point your ears are already ringing with the blares of car horns, you sigh deeply thinking finally you are on your way home...Then the Death-Trap's battery refuses to start ....Tayuuun...yuuuun....yuuuuun!

Welcome Back to Gidi

Hero to Zero?

Doing absolutely nothing about the state of affairs of your country is often considered a suicidal act, but then what happens to an individual who dared to speak up for the need to do something,and then back-pedals? Nigerians have been pretty cruel to 2face Idibia over the past number of days, and most especially today the 6th of February,2017 because of a protest he identified with. He changed his mind last minute for reasons that we are not all very clear about,but then people have gone haywire as regards his reputation. In truth, I won't go throwing verbal jabs at this dude who decided to pull out (wink) . His music does me all the justice i need.

Who Putin Trump?

Asking the world a not so innocent question. We all thought this nightmare was a joke, but it has surely come to rob us all of our common sense. I never for once thought that in my lifetime I would see so much hate envelope the times,but it surely is what we are dealing with right now. 

No More

I know not why I bleed not,

my heart fills a path that strangles my soul.

All seems dull and dark beyond night,

the journey has become one of blood and sweat

but not tears, for a stone took the place of the gentle beating giant within.

The rebel in me is long gone,

she must be found, she must be;

her tender ways and thrilling voice is needed

to soothe my night and love my mind.

As the wind blows, and brushes my skin,

I shut my eyes for times long gone.

In search of memories that shine bright and true

and taste the future in the air.

I follow your shadow no more

No more, I say…no more .

GIF Credit: Babble Creek Monster

Here is to the Grumpy Ones

If you are anything like some weird guy I know (which I pray to the high heavens, you are not). Once 2 or 3 days have gone by and he has not learnt anything new, he gets grumpy for no reason at all; responds reluctantly to greetings, flies off the handle over mere jokes and makes minimal talk with annoying facial expression. Pretty sad but I find it interesting.

So to save all of us from weird grumpy friends like mine, I have decided to share the one stop destination that is perpetually thrilling and informative. A podcast that will fill any mind in leaps and bounds,with knowledge that will jettison all forms of grumpiness. The most amazing thing about every single episode of this podcast called 99% Invisible is that each one is brilliantly produced and is a virus you will most definitely share shamelessly without protection.

I can not point you to any favourite episode, right now, because I love every one of them equally for the depth of research and style of presentation employed.So if for any reason you have a mental itch to scratch or you have any Mr or Mrs Grumpy for knowledge in your life, just head over to 99% Invisible to get your mind blown. You will thank me later (I hope).

GIF Credit: Sander Van Dijk